Portable welding apparatus



Dec. 22, 1964 3,162,750

H. J. ANDERSON PORTABLE WELDING APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 28, 1965 2Sheets-Sheet 1 2'5"/ INVENTOR l7\{m Sir@ Hubert J. Anderson Jl 1F y?@wald 20, k WW? Dec. 22, 1964 H. J. ANDERSON PORTABLE WELDING APPARATUS2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Jan. 28, 1963 lNvENToR Hubert J.Anderson United States Patent O M 3,162,750 PRTABLE WELDING APPARATUSHubert J. Anderson, Pewauhee, Wis., assigner to Automatic WeldingCompany, Waukesha, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin @riginal applicationlian. 28, 1963, Ser. No. 254,331. Divided and this application Feb. 26,1964, Ser. No.

te cintas. (ci. zia-13s) This invention relates to a portable weldingapparatus and particularly to a portable semi-automatic weldingapparatus having unprecedented flexibility and adaptability of use yetwhich is of simple and inexpensive design and construction. Thisapplication is a division of my copending application Serial No.254,381, led l'anuary 28, 1963.

By semi-automatic l means a welding apparatus in which a consumablewelding wire or electrode is mechanically fed to the welding nozzlewhile the nozzle is manipulated, i.e., held in the welders hand andtraversed over the work by the Welder himself rather than by mechanicalmeans as in a so-called automatic welder.

Many welding jobs are of such character that they can most eiciently andeconomically be performed by hand welding yet they are of such size thatitis desirable to use a mechanically fed consumable electrode or weldingwire. l have designed a portable welding apparatus or unit which isideally suited to such jobs and which has flexibility of mounting anduse not possessed by prior portable Welding units. The mountingstructure or casing of the unit which contains the Wire feed means(hereinafter called the wire feed unit) is preferably provided with ahandle adapting it to be carried suspended from the handle. It isadapted by a simple adjustment to feed the welding wire either generallyhorizontally or generally vertically. Novel means for -mounting the wirefeed unit are provided, which means are unprecedentedly simple andeconomical in design yet effectively serve their purpose. The wire feedunit of the portable welding apparatus may be mounted on a stationarybase, on a wheeled carrier or even on a welding wire receptacle.

l provide a portable welding apparatus comprising a receptacle forwelding wire, the receptacle having a rim, a mounting structuresupported at least partially by the rim of the receptacle and wire feedmeans in the mounting structure to feed toward a welding zone wire fromthe receptacle. Means are preferably provided supporting the mountingstructure in position to feed toward a welding zone wire from thereceptacle, the supporting means being supported at least partially bythe receptacle. The mounting structure may have wire feed means thereindisposed to feed wire in an upward direction and means may be providedsupporting the mounting structure in position generally above thereceptacle to feed wire from the receptacle upwardly toward a weldingzone. The supporting means may be supported at least partially by thereceptacle. ln certain cases it is desirable to support the supportingmeans entirely by the receptacle. ln other cases the supporting meansare to advantage supported in part by the receptacle and in partindependently of the receptacle.

The mounting structure may have the wire feed means therein disposed tofeed wire in a generally horizontal direction and means may be providedsupporting the mounting structure in position generally above butlaterally of the center of the receptacle to feed wire from thereceptacle generally horizontally toward a welding zone, the supportingmeans in this case normally being supported in part by the receptacleand in part independently of the receptacle. Guide means are preferablyprovided through which the wire passes between the recep- 3,162,750Patented Dec. 22, 1964 tacle and the wire feed means disposed to feedwire generally horizontally for receiving the wire moving in a generallyupward direction out of the receptacle and guiding it toward the wirefeed means. The guide means may be a hollow flexible spring carried bythe supporting means.

The supporting means supporting the mounting structure may comprisetubular leg portions slotted at the bottom to embrace a portion of therim of the welding wire receptacle. Set screws may be provided which maybe threaded through the slotted portions of the supporting means totightly fasten the supporting means to the receptacle.

Other details, objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent as the following description of certain present preferredembodiments thereof proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown certain present preferredembodiments of the invention in which FlGURE l is a side View, withportions removed affording a view to its interior, of a welding wirefeed unit;

FIGURE 2 is an end View of the welding Wire feed unit shown in FIGURE lwith a portion cutaway affording a partial view of the interior of theunit;

FlGURE 3 is a fragmentary View showing the lower portion of the weldingwire feed unit shown in FIGURE l but with the wire feed roll gearsarranged to feed welding wire vertically rather than horizontally as inFIG- URE l;

FEGURE 4 is a side view of a Wheeled carrier having the welding wirefeed unit and a reel of welding Wire mounted thereon;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary elevational View with portions cut awayshowing mounting of the welding wire feed unit on a welding wirereceptacle;

FGURE 6 is a plan view of the structure of FIG- URE 5 .f

FGURE 7 is aview siimlar to FIGURE 5 but showing mounting of the weldingwire feed unit partially on the welding wire receptacle and partiallyseparatel therefrom; and

FlGURE 8 is a plan view of the structure of FIG- URE 7.

, Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is shown aportable welding apparatus having a welding wire feed unit comprising amounting structure in the form of a casing 2 having a handle 3 adaptingit to be carried suspended from kthe handle. Mounted in the casing 2 isa motorZcz drivingl through suitable gearing in a gear case 2b a shaft2c to which is fixed a welding wire feed roll gear 5 having teeth 5ainterrupted to provide a peripheral channel 5b to receive the weldingwire to be fed. The shaft 2c extends through 'a block 4, the feed rollgear 5 being applied to the shaft 2c outside the block. Pivoted to theblock 4 at 6 is an L.-shaped lever '7 in which is rotatably mounted asecond welding wire feed roll gear 8 which cooperates with the feed rollgear 5 to feed weldingwire toward a weldingfzone. The welding wire feedroll gear may be identical with the welding wire feed roll gear 5,yhaving teeth'Sa and a channel Sb.- The teeth of the two feed roll gearsmesh and thewelding wire is gripped and fed in the cooperating channels5b of the two feed roll gears. A bracket 9 is mounted on the block 4 anda screw 1t) having an enlarged head l1 adapting it to be turned by handpasses freely through a bore through the bracket 9 and is threaded intoa flange 12 at the extremity of the lever 7. yA compression coil. spring13 is biased between the bracket 9 and the head 11 of the screwltl andurges the roll 8 against the roll 5. The pressure with which the roll 8is urged toward the roll 5 may be adjusted by turning the screw liti. Awire guide 14 is carried by the plate 4, being maintained in place by astrap 15 tightened about the wire guide 14 by a screw 16 threaded intothe plate 4. The axis of the wire guide 14 is coincident with the throatbetween the rolls and 8 formed by the cooperating channels 5b so thatthe wire guide guides a welding electrode or wire properly to the feedrolls which advance the electrode or wire toward the welding zone.

As will be seen in FIGURE l, the casing 2 is provided in opposedgenerally upright walls with openings 17 and 13 which are in horizontalalignment with each other and also with the axis of the guide 14 and thethroat formed between the rolls 5 and 8. Thus the rolls 5 and S feedwire entering the casing 2 through the opening 17 and passing throughthe guide 14 and between the rolls 5 and 3 and passing out of the casing2 through the opening 18.

The plate 4 is fastened in place in the casing 2 by four screws 19. Thescrews 19 are arranged in equidistant relationship as the corners of asquare with the axis of the shaft 2c at the center of the square. The

screws 19 pass through openings in the plate 4 and are threaded intocorrespondingly positioned threaded bores in the gear case 2b.

As the parts are arranged in FIGURE 1 welding wire is, as aboveindicated, fed from left to right through the Openings 17 and 18 in thecasing. It may be desired without changing the orientation of the casingto feed welding wire therethrough generally vertically, for example,upwardly through the bottom of the casing and out through the top. Tothis end the casing is provided with an opening 2t) through its bottomand an aligned opening 21 through its top which may be closed by springheld caps 2da and 21a respectively when the openings and 21 are not inuse. To set up for feeding wire upwardly through the openings 20 and 21the screws 19 are removed and the block 4 is rotated in thecounterclockwise direction viewing FIGURE l through an angle of 90 aboutthe axis of the shaft 2c to the position shown in FIGURE 3 whereupon hescrews 19 are replaced. This can be done because the threaded bores inthe gear case V2b are arranged in a square as are the openings in theplate 4 through which the screws pass. When the plate Y 4 with themechanism carried thereby as above explained is turned in thecounterclockwise direction through an angle of 90 from the position ofFIGURE l to the position of FIGURE 3 and fastened in place the axis ofthe guide 14 and the throat formed by the rolls 5 and S will extendvertically in alignment with the axes of the openings 20 and 21. Thus bythe simple expedient of removing the screws 19 and turning the plate 4through an angle of 90 the wire feed means may be disposed or adapted tofeed welding wire through the casing toward a welding zone eitherhorizontally or vertically as may be most convenient without alteringthe orientation of the casing.

One of the primary advantages of my portable welding apparatus is itsflexibility and adaptability of mounting. The wire feed unit is adaptedto be mounted on a base in various ditferent relationships to the workand to the source of welding wire. In FIGURE 4 the mounting structure orcasing 2 is shown as being mounted on a wheeled carrier 22 upon which isalso mounted in tandem with the mounting structure or casing 2 a wiresupply unit 23 shown in this instance as comprising a reel 24 rotatablymounted upon a vertical spindle 25 delivering welding wire through theopening 17 into the casing and thence through the guide 14 and betweenthe rolls 5 and 8 and out through the opening 18 into a tubular guide 26and thence to the work. The tubular guide 26 may be combined with ahandle structure 27 for moving the wheeled carrier 22.

The top surface of the Wheeled carrier 22 constitutes a base upon whichthe mounting structure or casing 2 is disposed. The base has holdownmeans shown as being in the form of lingers 23 spaced slightly above theupper surface of the carrier 22 and extending laterally toward thecasing 2, two such fingers being shown which are spaced apart widthwiseof the wheeled carrier 22. The casing 2 has near its bottom openings 29receiving the fingers 28 whereby to hold down to the base the side ofthe casing having the openings 29. At the opposite side of the casing,i.e., the side adjacent the wire supply unit 23, the casing is held downon the wheeled carrier 22 by removable clips 3d which may like thefingers 23 enter openings provided therefor in the casing and which maybe held down on the wheeled carrier 22 by wing nuts 31 threaded ontostuds 32 extending upwardly from the wheeled carrier through slots inthe clips 3i). The casing 2 may be fastened in the manner described to abase in various relationships to the work and to the wire supply.

FIGURES 5 and 6 show a receptacle 33 for welding wire, the receptaclebeing cylindrical with its axis vertical and being open at the top andhaving a rim 34. The welding Wire is arranged in coil form in thereceptacle 33 with the axis of the coil vertical and is adapted to bewithdrawn upwardly out of the receptacle as the welding progresses.

Mounted atop the receptacle 33 are supporting means for 'the mountingstructure or casing 2, the supporting means being shown as comprising abase plate 35 to which the casing 2 is fastened in the same manner asabove explained and shown in FIGURE 4 with respect to the wheeledcarrier 22. The plate 35 is carried by two brackets 36 and 37. It may befastened to the brackets in any suitable way as by welding, bolting,etc. The bracket 36 is of U shape with its Alegs extending downwardlyWhile the bracket 37 is of L shape with one leg extending horizontallyand the other leg extending downwardly from the horizontal leg. Theplate 35 is carried by the horizontal leg at the top of the U shapedbracket 36 and the horizontal leg at the top of the L shaped bracket 37as shown in FIGURES 5 and 6. The brackets are of tubular material, forexample, pipe, and may have collars or coupling members 38 applied totheir lower extremities as by threading. Each of the members 38 isupwardly slotted from its Vbottom as shown at 39 adapting the slot totit over the rim of the receptacle 33. The members 38 may be turned toproper orientation to` lit over the rim of the receptacle. Preferablythe portion of each member 38 lying outside the receptacle is somewhatelongated relatively to the portion lying inside the receptacle and hasa set screw 40 threaded therethrough to bear against the outer surfaceof the receptacle so that when the brackets 36 and 37 have beenappliedtothe receptacle 33 they may be rmly fastened to the receptacle bytightening the set screws 40.

In the setup shown in FIGURES 5 and 6 the Welding wire is fed generallyvertically upwardly from the receptacle 33 through the opening Ztl intothe casing 2 and thence through the guide 14, between the rolls 5 and 8and out through the opening 21 to a welding zone disposed generallyabove the casing. In this case the casing 2 is supported entirely on thereceptacle 33.

In FIGURES 7 and 8 a modified mounting arrangement for the wire feedunit is shown. The plate 35 is mounted on the brackets 36 and 37 in thesame manner as above described with respect to FIGURES 5 and 6 exceptthat in this case the horizontal leg of the bracket 37 extends almostcompletely across the bottom of the casing 2 as shown. Lengths oftubular material 41 and 42 are coupled to the bottoms of the verticallegs of the brackets 36 and 37. At the bottom of the lengths 41 oftubular material are provided collars or coupling members 43 which maybe identical with the members 38 and are applied to the lrim of thereceptacle 33 in analogous manner. The length 42 of tubular materialwhich is coupled to the` bottom of the vertical leg of the bracket 37extends downwardly to the door or whatever support carries thereceptacle 33 as shown in FIGURES 7 and 8. Thus in this if: ad

setup the casing 2 is supported in part on the receptacle 33 and in partindependently of that receptacle.

In FIGURES 7 and 8 a lateral extension 44 is shown as applied to one ofthe vertical legs of the bracket 36, which extension carries a hollowflexible spring 45 serving as guide means for the welding wire as it isdelivered generally upwardly out of the receptacle 33. The welding wiredelivered upwardly out of the receptacle 33 passes through the guide 45and turns laterally :to enter the casing 2 through the opening 17 whenceit passes through the guide 14, between the rolls 5 and 8 and outthrough the opening 18 to the welding zone. In the setup of FIG- URES 7and 8 the casing 2 is disposed generally above but laterally of thecenter of the receptacle to adapt it to feed wire delivered upwardlyfrom the receptacle generally horizontally toward the welding zone.

Thus my portable welding apparatus has flexibility of mounting and usewhich extend its adaptability far beyond that of portable weldingapparatus of similar type heretofore available.

The circuitry of the portable welding apparatus may be conventional orunconventional, such, for example, as disclosed in copending applicationSerial No. 247,019, filed December 26, 1962.

While I have shown and described certain present preferred embodimentsof the invention it is to be distinctly understood that the invention isnot limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied within thescope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A portable welding apparatus comprising a receptacle for weldingwire, the receptacle having a rim, a mounting structure supported atleast partially by the rim of the receptacle and wire feed means in themounting structure to feed toward a welding zone wire from thereceptacle.

2. A portable welding apparatus comprising a receptacle for weldingwire, a mounting structure having wire feed means therein and meanssupporting the mounting structure in position to feed toward a weldingzone wire from the receptacle, the supporting means being supported atleast partially by the receptacle.

3. A portable welding apparatus comprising a receptacle for weldingwire, a mounting structure having Wire feed means therein disposed tofeed wire in an upward direction and means supporting the mountingstructure in position generally above the receptacle to feed wire fromthe receptacle upwardly toward a welding zone, the supporting meansbeing supported at least partially by the receptacle.

4. A portable welding apparatus comprising a receptacle for weldingwire, a mounting structure having wire feed means therein disposed tofeed wire in an upward direction and means supporting the mountingstructure in position generally above the receptacle to feed wire fromthe receptacle upwardly toward a welding zone, the supporting meansbeing supported entirely by the receptacle.

5. A portable welding apparatus comprising a receptacle for weldingwire, a mounting structure having wire feed means therein and meanssupporting the mounting structure in position to feed toward a weldingzone wire from the receptacle, the supporting means being supported inpart by the receptacle and in part independently of the receptacle.

6. A portable welding apparatus comprising a receptacle for weldingwire, a mounting structure having wire feed means therein disposed tofeed wire in a generally horizontal direction and means supporting themounting structure in position generally above but laterally of thecenter of the receptacle to feed wire from the receptacle generallyhorizontally toward a welding zone, the supporting means being supportedin part by the receptacle and inpart independently of the receptacle.

7. A portable welding apparatus comprising a receptacle for weldingwire, a mounting structure having wire feed means therein disposed tofeed wire in a generally horizontal direction, means supporting themounting structure in position generally above but laterally of thecenter of the receptacle to feed wire from the receptacle generallyhorizontally toward a welding zone, the supporting means being supportedat least partially by the receptacle, and guide means through which thewire passes between the receptacle and the wire feed means for receivingthe wire moving in a generally upward direction out of the receptacleand guiding it toward the wire feed means.

8. A portable welding apparatus as claimed in claim 7 in which the guidemeans is a hollow flexible spring carried by the supporting means.

9. A portable welding apparatus comprising a receptacle for weldingwire, the receptacle having a rim, a mounting structure and meanssupporting the mounting structure, the supporting means comprisingtubular leg portions slotted at the bottom to embrace a portion of therim of the receptacle.

10. A portable welding apparatus comprising a receptacle for weldingwire, the receptacle having a rim, -a mounting structure and meanssupporting the mounting struc-ture, the supporting means comprisingtubular leg portions slotted at the bottom to embrace a portion of therim of the receptacle, with set screws threaded through the slottedportions of the supporting means to tightly fasten the supporting meansto the receptacle.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,119,042 1/64Marshall 314-68 FOREIGN PATENTS 218,467 11/58 Australia.

RICHARD M. WOOD, Primary Examiner.

1. A PORTABLE WELDING APPARATUS COMPRISING A RECEPTACLE FOR WELDINGWIRE, THE RECEPTACLE HAVING A RIM, A MOUNTING STRUCTURE SUPPORTED ATLEAST PARTIALLY BY THE RIM OF THE RECEPTACLE AND WIRE FEED MEANS IN THEMOUNTING